Weekend Getaway at Malacca

Needed a break badly, my friends rallied, then off we went for a short weekend trip to Malacca. On an insanely long 5 hour bus ride from Singapore - Malacca, we arrived around 130pm in Malacca.

We took off to:-

Malacca's Portuguese settlement, which unfortunately was really bad. For one, it was only opened during the night. Two, there is absolutely nothing left of the legendary wooden settlement except for one unimpressive hut for photo taking. Three, it is now famous for its seafood which apparently our cab driver informs us that the seafood was purchased at a wet market, it is not even fresh ! Disappointing!

Next stop, we cabbed over to Jonker walk

Bought Malaccan Goodies from the famous San Shu Gong..


Took photos .. explored little shops...


Had chicken rice balls from the place that started it all ! Hock Kee. The balls were so-so, the chicken a tad tough for our taste, but the rice was fantastic !! It was rich, buttery, aromatic. This was definitely one of the highlights of our trip, and brought our mood (at least mine) up from the bitter disappointment of the Portuguese Settlement.

The other famous Malaccan dessert, Chendol, the famous coconut, palm sugar, green jelly icy drink.. Not that I am a really big fan of this but I am now officially all chendol-ed out for this year at least..

Located the Red Square with the famous Tang Beng Swee Clock Tower,


Christ Church

Then we continued our exploration of the area with an insanely boring Melaka River Cruise. The irony of the cruise was that we saw more wooden houses during the cruise than at the Portuguese settlement. (YES ! I am THAT BITTER)



Then back to the Jonker Walk night markets where we ate Peranakan food, street food, desserts and listened to cheesy Chinese dialect songs all night long.


On our second day, we walked down to the Baba and Nyonya Peranakan Museum. On our way, we spotted some people hot wiring a car. One was doing the actual dirty deed, the other being a lookout. The car alarms eventually went off after a while, but no one cared,

We wanted to stop them, but as one of my friends coolly commented, "It is beyond our hands, the guys are doing it across the road from the police station" - l -;;; Welcome to Malaysia?


The other highlight of the trip was the Baba and Nyonya Peranakan Museum. There was a guided tour to explain how they lived, the type of culture they had and we were free to explore the place which was made up of three houses joint together. Unfortunately, we couldn't take photos within but trust me when I say that the interiors were truly impressive, intricate and worth the time to make the trip.

Malacca - covered in two days, one night and never again! The gang is now making plans to head to Penang, Boracay and Taipei soon. I heart my gang. :)

Hoe Kee
4, Jalan Hang Jebat
(Jonker Walk)

Sometimes, it is just the company that makes all the difference in the world

Already putting on a smile the entire day to nerve myself for the much dreaded dinner tonight, makes me appreciate all the good company that I have been receiving from the people around me last week.

Took a faraway visitor to what is fast becoming my favorite restaurant, House of Peranakan Cuisine, at the Pan Pacific Orchard. Great ambiance on a Sunday night with 2 elderly old men belting out old classics - karaoke style, great food at decent prices in a hotel to wow any guest away. Photos of past and present presidents adorn the walls, making this place one of the hidden gems off Orchard Road. Some of the favorites here include the Babi Assam, Nonya Duck, Ngoh Hiang, especially the Ubi Kayu? (tapioca coated with coconut - looks so innocent and common, but totally blew my mind) Highly recommended !

Another gem off the road well traveled is the Zai Shun Curry Fishhead located at Jurong. I, total laziness personified, would never travel down so far for food if not for the call of hospitality and family in treating a foreign guest. The trip was well worth it. Fresh fish head, steamed fish stomach and liver(pre-ordered and really hard to get), pig trotters(hey, there's plenty of collagen in these things) and other side dishes did not disappoint.


Good company makes all the difference in the world :) All the photos were taken by my new HTC Diamond2, I heart HTC! Windows Mobile for the inner geek in me.

House of Peranakan Cuisine
10 Claymore Road
Pan Pacific Orchard
Singapore 229540

Zai Shun Curry Fishhead
Blk 253 Jurong East St 24
#01-205 First Cooked Food

Burp..........

Some relatives from Hong Kong are staying over for a visit, so this is officially a week of pigging out !

From home cooked meals ...

To food they brought from Hong Kong (we are talking about suitcases of stuff here, right down to a tray of century eggs from Hongkong!)

To dinners all over town, I give the white pepper crabs & mee goreng at No SignBoard in Geylang two thumbs up !

Charlie's Perankan food along East Coast Road will definitely be a place that I will be going again. The ice chendol, the durian green bean dessert, the various curries, the incredible chili there ~

Good food just puts me in a good mood !

Charlie's Peranakan Food
Address:
205 East Coast Road
Tel: 6344 8824

No Signboard Seafood Restaurant (Geylang)
414 Geylang Road
Tel: 6842 3415

Old School Panton

Checked out the Verner Panton exhibition at the National Museum of Singapore, it was not really as fantastic as I thought. Whizzed in and out in under 10 minutes flat.

Met up with my friends for a dinner at Chalk in Mount Sophia.

Similar to Mount Emily, OldSchool is a small artist enclave with a cozy bar and restaurant on its premises. There is Timbre there with its easy listening live music outdoor band. Parking seemed to be a tad limited but luckily we were there early.

For about 15++ a starter and 30++ for mains, I am not coming back here again for mediocre food. Maybe to Timbre for music, but I am giving Chalk a pass. Given that Mount Emily is just located 5 minutes away with much better food and prices. I pray that Chalk will fold and something better will open. The five of us had different starters and different mains, no one truly loved or remotely liked anything except for the view. So it's not me ! It's them !

Off on a better note, we headed to Clinic afterwards for drinks and caught a full fledged salsa party hosted by Bacardi. Life is still good ~

VERNER PANTON – The Collected Works
Venue : Exhibition Gallery 2
Date : FRI 15 MAY 2009 - SUN 12 JUL 2009 10:00am - 6:00pm
National Museum of Singapore

Chalk
Address:
01-03, 11 Mount Sophia S(228461)
Tel: 6883 2120

It Only Rains When I Wear White ...

The gang decided to head to the Marina Barrage for a picnic. Convinced that there was absolutely nothing there, we were overly equipped with food and water, only to find mobs of people and opened restaurants. Damn !

Marina Barrage, Singapore’s 15th reservoir, with a catchment area of 10,000 hectares, right in downtown Singapore.

The reservoir boasts of a gallery, a bridge with solar panels, cafe, restaurant and an open area with a spectacular view of the city. To my delight, the Hainanese steamboat restaurant from the old 7th Storey hotel has moved over to the Marina Barrage. Definitely coming back for a meal again..


As for the four of us, we spent the night chatting away on a picnic mat, with the food and bottle of wine that we brought over earlier. The happily attached couple, the virgin and the newly single were engaged in a rapid conversation that covered many aspects of the bedroom. Rowdy, raunchy and fun. Good company, good Saturday.




Address: 260 Marina Way, Singapore 018976
Free shuttle bus service from Marina Bay MRT Station to Marina Barrage.
Mondays to Fridays
Every 15-minute intervals
From 8.30am-7.15pm
* From 11.30am-12.30pm (30 minute intervals)
Last Bus from MRT: 6.00pm
Last Bus from Marina Barrage: 7.15pm

Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays
Every 10-minute intervals
From 9.00am-9.00pm
Last Bus from MRT: 8.00pm
Last Bus from Marina Barrage: 9.00pm